Coping with Compulsion: Women's Views of Being on a Community Treatment Order

Abstract

An interview-based study of 42 people with serious mental illness was undertaken in New Zealand during the early 2000s. Of the 42 people, 10 were women. The women were either currently on a Community Treatment Order or had been recently discharged from a long period of being on a Community Treatment Order. Analysis of the original interview data revealed how these women experienced both benefits and limitations under conditions of compulsory community treatment. The women's key workers, clinicians, and nominated family members were also interviewed. The findings indicate that women considered the overall advantages of Community Treatment Orders to outweigh the disadvantages. Advantages included: greater access to treatment and respite care in hospital; and an increased sense of safety and reassurance for women and their families. Disadvantages included: some restrictions, such as where women resided; feelings of stigma; and having to comply with treatment with the threat of being returned to hospital if they did not. Overall, Community Treatment Orders made a significant impact on the lives of the 10 women but they also allowed the women to remain out of hospital long enough to rebuild their lives and maintain their close relationships.     

‘We are not as alike,as you think’ sense of individuality within the co-twin relationship along the life course

We have explored how older twins experience and describe themselves in relation to their co-twin. The life stories of 20 older twins were analyzed with narrative analysis.Results showed that the twins described themselves from the point of differences in relation to the co-twin. This was based on experiences of how other people viewed them as alike, as well as on life events along the life course, which contributed to the perception of oneself as an individual in relation to the co-twin. The emphasis on unlikeness was therefore interpreted as a way of trying to establish a position as an individual within the co-twin relationship and to assert ones individuality to the rest of the social environment. To claim oneself as an individual was an ongoing identity work along the life course.     

An Evaluation of Healthy Relationship Education to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence

This research evaluated the impact of the Within My Reach healthy relationship education program on intimate partner violence for 419 high-risk adults in an urban area. Key outcomes such as relationship knowledge, communication/conflict resolution skills, relationship quality, and physical and emotional abuse were evaluated through survey research immediately post- and 6-months postprogram participation. Results suggest that participation in the Within My Reach program is associated with a statistically significant decrease in physical and emotional abuse, as well as isolation behaviors. Differences by participant demographics and the role of communication skills and relationship quality as mediators of these outcomes are also discussed.     

Group leaders’ experiences in heterogenous grief support groups

Group processes in social work are complex. In this article, the authors examine how Norwegian leaders experience these processes during their grief support group work. The authors take a qualitative approach, specifically semistructured interviews. Seven group leaders participated. Using qualitative content analysis, the authors found new and supporting information as presented in two inter-related themes: (1) Achieving cohesion is a challenging balance and (2) Facilitating the group activity is linked to group leaders’ engagement and competence. The authors suggest that group work is enhanced by well-qualified leaders paying attention and understanding toward the ongoing group processes, homogenous groups, prescreening, individual timing, and group cohesion.     

Adventure-Based Group Therapy to Promote Social Skills in Adolescents

This article presents adventure-based group therapy as one type of activity-based group treatment that can be used to promote social skills in adolescents. Adventure-based therapy groups are a blend of experiential education, outdoor education, and group therapy. Key components of adventure-based therapy groups include activities that provide immediate and concrete consequences of behaviors, reliance on problem solving, their use of novel and unfamiliar environments, and the use of physical trust. The article includes practice examples of how these factors can be used to promote social skills and discusses limitations and implications for social work group practice.     

Preventing violence in disadvantaged communities: Strategies for building collective efficacy and improving community health

ABSTRACT

Violence is a critical health issue that compromises the strength of communities and permanently damages the lives of individuals and families. The impact of violence on health and well-being is particularly devastating in disadvantaged and minority communities, leading to negative health outcomes, including premature death. However, research suggests that communities can prevent violence and negative health outcomes by developing collective efficacy, which happens when neighbors share norms and values, trust one another, and are willing to intervene to address problems. Despite the importance of collective efficacy in preventing violence and improving health, almost no research has investigated actionable strategies to build collective efficacy in disadvantaged neighborhoods. This article describes a theoretical and conceptual model that illustrates how collective efficacy impacts community violence and related health outcomes. We begin by reviewing other approaches to community violence prevention, including criminal justice and developmental approaches. We then discuss how collective efficacy works and why it matters, including theoretical and empirical research explaining collective efficacy and its impact on community violence and health. We then discuss a research-based intervention that social workers can use to facilitate collective efficacy, including our conceptual model and the key components of the intervention. Finally, we discuss implications for social workers who are working with communities to address violence and related health issues.     

Conceptual Reconstruction through a Modified Focus Group Methodology

Given the perennial interest in the construct of age identity yet its persistent resistance to explanation, the purpose of this study was to re-examine the conceptual structure of age identity by using a focus group design modified to reflect contemporary social science theory. The second purpose of the study was to examine how this modified design functioned. The results indicated that a key component was missing in the conventional conceptual structure, its context-dependency. The results also indicated the significance of the modified design showing how a more complex conceptual structure can emerge when participants have extended opportunities to consider and articulate their thoughts on a particular phenomenon. As well, the results indicated the ambiguity in any single contribution of a participant.